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From helping you after a dog attack or truck accident in Wisconsin to defending your rights as a rider, the personal injury trial attorneys at Hupy & Abraham will be fierce advocates in your time of need.

With offices across Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa, and representing clients hurt by slip and fall incidents, car accidents, wrongful deaths, drug and medical device injuries, dog bites, nursing home abuse and motorcycle crashes, we are available where you need us and when you need us.

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A wrongful death case officially begins when a complaint alleging wrongful death and requesting damages is filed in state court. While settlement negotiations with the insurance company may begin prior to the complaint being filed, the lawsuit does not begin until the complaint is filed with the court.

A wrongful death complaint must be filed by someone with a specific relationship to the person who died, within the required time frame, and it must comply with the court’s pleading requirements. If even one of these conditions is not met, then the complaint may be denied by the court.

Don’t Take That Chance

Instead, it is important to make sure that you file your case correctly so that your rights are protected. You can begin by:

Gathering evidence. You will need to explain your cause of action in your complaint and request damages. While you need not gather all of the evidence for your case prior to filing a complaint, you may want enough evidence to support your claims.

Determining if you have standing to sue. Illinois law allows the personal representative of the decedent’s estate to file a lawsuit.

Deciding where to file the complaint. The complaint must be filed in a court that has jurisdiction to hear your case.

Making sure the complaint complies with court rules. There are certain formatting rules that must be followed when filing a complaint in court.

The rules are exact, and not complying with the rules may cost you your fair and just recovery. Accordingly, it is important to schedule a free and confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after your loved one’s death.

The Burden of Filing a Case Does Not Need to Be on Your Shoulders

You can make sure that your rights are protected by working with an attorney who knows how, where, and when to file a complaint and how to protect your recovery. To get started, please contact us via this website or by phone at your convenience and let’s talk about how a wrongful death case works in Illinois and how we can make sure that you file a case in a way that protects your rights.

The damages that you and your family have incurred since the death of your loved one are staggering. Yet, even with the medical expenses, funeral costs, and lost income, there are certain damages that are more significant than the rest.

Damages for Pain and Suffering

Your loved one may have suffered physical and emotional pain between the time of the accident and the time of death. Additionally, you and your family are suffering emotionally since the loss of your loved one.

The Illinois Survival Act allows the decedent’s estate to recover damages that the decedent incurred prior to death. This includes, but is not limited to, damages for physical pain and emotional suffering.

The Illinois Wrongful Death Act allows the surviving spouse and next of kin to recover fair and just compensation, which includes damages for grief, sorrow and mental suffering.

As with all damages in a wrongful death case, you will need to prove the value of pain and suffering before you can recover compensation for these damages. This will require both evidence and persuasive arguments in order to get the insurance company to agree to a fair settlement or the court to issue a fair ruling.

How to Protect Your Right to Recover Pain and Suffering Damages

Since physical pain and emotional suffering are subjective, you may require expert testimony and a skilled attorney to help you get the recovery that you deserve. A doctor, for example, could testify as to the amount of physical pain your loved one likely endured after the accident, and your attorney can use the discovery process to gather evidence about emotional suffering.

For more information about what you may be able to recover and how to protect that recovery, please start a live chat with us now or call us any time—24/7/365—to set up a FREE confidential initial consultation with an experienced and empathetic attorney who wants to help your family get the fair recovery that you deserve.

When you lose a loved one, you need time to grieve. Your thoughts are on your loss, not on lawsuits. However, your time to file a lawsuit is not unlimited. Accordingly, you need to begin thinking about the pros and cons of filing a wrongful death lawsuit so that you can take action before the statute of limitations expires.

In Most Cases You Have Two Years to File a Claim

An Iowa wrongful death claim may be filed after any death that is caused by the negligence or wrongful act of an individual, business, or government agency.

However, Iowa law does not give grieving families an unlimited amount of time to consider whether or not they want to file a wrongful death claim. The statute of limitations in Iowa requires that a wrongful death claim be filed within two years of the death. A case does not officially begin until a complaint is filed with the court.

The statute of limitations will not be extended if a criminal case is pending against the potential defendants for your loved one’s death, it will not be extended if you didn’t know about the statute of limitations, and it will not be extended if you have been trying to negotiate a settlement with the insurance company.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline?

If you miss the statute of limitations deadline for one of the reasons described above—or for most other reasons—then the defendants will file a motion with the court to dismiss your complaint when you do file it, and the court will grant that motion. Your case will be dismissed without any recovery of damages and without the opportunity to seek damages in the future.

Since it takes a significant amount of time to prepare a wrongful death case, the sooner you call a wrongful death lawyer, the better. Do not wait until the statute of limitations is about to expire. Instead, contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation to learn more about how a wrongful death case works in Iowa.

Your loved one died in an accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence. However, love is not enough to give you the legal right to bring a lawsuit for your loved one’s death. Instead, you need to have a specific legal relationship with the deceased in order to have standing, which is the legal right to bring a wrongful death lawsuit.

You Have to Be the Personal Representative of Your Loved One’s Estate

In Illinois, it is the personal representative of the decedent’s estate who has the right to bring a wrongful death case. If your loved one died with a will, then the will likely named the individual who is the personal representative of the estate. If your loved one died without a will, then the court will name an individual as the personal representative of the estate.

In many (though not all) cases, the personal representative is a close family member such as a spouse, adult child, or parent. Deciding whether or not to pursue a wrongful death claim is just one of the important responsibilities of being a personal representative of an estate.

Don’t Confuse Standing With Recovering Damages

While a personal representative of the estate has the authority to bring an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit, the personal representative may or may not recover damages if the lawsuit is successful. Any damages that are awarded in a wrongful death lawsuit belong to the estate and are distributed according to the rules of the estate.

If you have any question about whether you have standing to bring a wrongful death claim in Illinois or about how to do it, please start a live chat with us now. We are available all day, every day. We would be pleased to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with you so that you can learn more about how a wrongful death case works in Illinois and about your rights and potential recovery.

You have suffered the most significant loss possible—the death of your loved one—but to the insurance company your claim is just another personal injury case and the insurance company’s goal is the same as it is in every personal injury case. That goal is to pay you as little as possible for the accident that took your loved one’s life.

Be Careful With Insurance Adjusters

Since your goal is at odds with the goal of the insurance adjuster, it is important to be careful about what you say to them. The insurance adjuster is calling you now because the insurance company is hoping that you will settle your case quickly and for less than you would if you found out more about your legal rights or if you were represented by a wrongful death lawyer. While the adjuster may sound sympathetic about your loss, it is important to know that the insurance company is not on your side and may use anything that you say against you during the settlement process.

You Don’t Need This Stress as You Grieve

We understand that you have no interest in speaking with an insurance adjuster, and we believe that you shouldn’t have to talk directly with an insurance adjuster. You do not have to play the insurance company’s game. Instead, you can protect your legal rights and avoid talking directly with the insurance adjuster by contacting a wrongful death attorney. Once you are represented by a lawyer the insurance company must direct communications to your lawyer rather than to you. That means that you will not have to talk to the insurance adjuster anymore and that you can be confident that your rights are being protected by your lawyer.

To learn more about how a wrongful death lawyer can help you with the insurance company, we encourage you to contact us any time via this website or by phone. We would be pleased to provide you with a free consultation and with more tips about protecting your wrongful death claim.

Generally, when you file a personal injury case in Illinois, you can ask for two types of damages: compensatory damages and punitive damages. Compensatory damages are monetary compensation for actual losses, such as medical bills and lost income. They may also include important non-economic damages, such as physical pain and emotional suffering.

Punitive damages, however, do not compensate the victim for the injury that has occurred. Instead, punitive damages punish the person who caused the injury. A judge can order a defendant to pay punitive damages in order to punish his wrongful behavior and deter others from engaging in similar behavior. In Illinois, the judge also has the right to decide what percentage of the punitive damages is awarded to the victim. Punitive damages are reserved for cases where the conduct was “intentional” and “willful and wanton.” These damages may be awarded in personal injury case stemming from a drunk driving accident, for example.

Punitive Damages Do Not Survive the Death of the Injured Victim

In Illinois, punitive damages are not available if the personal injury victim dies. This is true regardless of whether or not the victim dies from his accident injuries or natural causes. The right to seek or to recover punitive damages belongs only to the person who was hurt and not to his estate. The Illinois Supreme Court has held that the only way punitive damages can be sought after the death of the victim is if a specific statute expressly allows for the recovery of such damages.

You may not be able to recover punitive damages in an Illinois wrongful death case, but there are still other important reasons to pursue a legal recovery. The other types of damages that you may recover may hold the person responsible for your loved one’s death accountable and may be important to your family’s future. To learn ore more about your rights, please contact us via this website or by phone at any time—24/7/365—to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with an experienced and empathetic wrongful death attorney.

Some wrongful death lawsuits benefit from the knowledge and testimony of expert witnesses and others do not require experts. An experienced wrongful death lawyer can advise you about whether experts are needed for your case and can help you find the experts that you need.

Three Benefits of Expert Witnesses

Generally, expert witnesses are used to prove one of the following:

The facts of the case. It can be difficult to know what happened that caused the horrific accident that took your loved one’s life. Experts who work in the field may be able to review the evidence and provide credible testimony about the facts of the incident that led to your loved one’s death.

Liability. It isn’t enough to prove what happened. You must also prove that those facts result in a legal cause of action upon which the court can grant you relief. In other words, you have to prove that the facts make the person who caused your loved one’s death liable. In many cases, this means that the person who caused your loved one’s death was negligent and an expert witness may help prove that the person who caused your loved one’s death failed to act like a reasonable person and that that his actions or inactions caused your loved one’s death.

Damages. Evidence will need to be presented about the full value of damages. This includes anticipating future lost compensation, pain, and suffering. Expert witnesses may provide important testimony about these and other losses.

Each of these things is important to your claim.

Different Kinds of Experts May Help

Depending on the unique circumstances of your loved one’s death, the following kinds of experts may be important to your recovery:

Accident reconstructionists.

Engineers.

Doctors.

Coroner.

Economists.

Accountants.

Vocational experts.

Psychologists.

In some cases, other experts may also be important.

While some expert witnesses may have high fees, it is important to consider their value to your case. As with any decision in any lawsuit, it is important to conduct a cost benefit analysis to determine whether the expert may provide more value to your case than it costs to hire her.

For more information about expert witnesses specifically or how a wrongful death case works generally, we encourage you to schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced and empathetic attorneys. We are available 24 hours a day via this website or by phone, and we would be pleased to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with you at your convenience.

If your loved one had survived the motor vehicle crash, slip and fall accident, or other negligent or intentional action that led to his death, then he may have been able to recover his medical expenses in a personal injury lawsuit. His estate should not be left with the burden of those medical expenses if the crash or accident was so significant that it led to his death.

Don’t Let the Medical Bills Become a Problem

If your loved one did not die right away, then he likely incurred medical expenses between the time of his accident and the time of his death. These medical expenses were a direct result of the accident and were incurred because doctors had the intent to either help him survive or relieve his pain. Your loved one’s medical insurance may have covered some of these costs. However, your loved one may have had outstanding copayments or deductibles, things that were simply not covered by his plan, or he may have not been insured at the time of his death. Accordingly, his estate is now stuck with the bills.

A wrongful death lawsuit can help protect the value of the estate and the ultimate payment to the estate’s beneficiaries. If you file a wrongful death case, then the other driver’s insurance company may be responsible for paying your loved one’s medical costs that were directly related to his accident injuries including, but not limited to:

Surgeries.

Medications.

Hospitalizations.

Doctors’ visits.

Rehabilitation therapies.

The recovery of medical expenses, like all wrongful death damages, is going to require you to submit evidence of the cost. Medical bills, proof of payment, and other documentation will be important and should be shared with your wrongful death lawyer as soon as possible. If you need an experienced and empathetic attorney to help you through this difficult time, please feel free to contact us at any time via this website or by phone.

Yes, Wisconsin law allows you to recover for pain and suffering in a wrongful death case. Your loved one’s physical pain and emotional suffering from the time of the accident until death and your family’s emotional suffering since your loved one’s death are the most personal and among the most important types of damages that you can recover.

What Wisconsin Law Allows

In Wisconsin, it is possible to pursue a full recovery of monetary damages and also damages for:

Loss of society and companionship to the spouse, children, or siblings (if they are minors) of the person who died. The law caps these damages at $500,000 for the death of a child and $350,000 for the death of an adult.

The pain and suffering of the person who died. This is known as a survivorship claim and it may include compensation for the physical pain and emotional suffering that the person suffered from the time of the accident until the time of death. There are no statutory caps on survivorship damages.

If you are pursuing a survivorship claim or seeking damages for loss of society and companionship, then you are going to have to prove the amount of these significant, personal, and hard-to-value damages.

Don’t Do This Alone

The defendant’s attorney is going to work hard to minimize your recovery of these non-economic damages. The lawyer may try to frame your relationship with the person who died in an unflattering way and make little of the emotional suffering you are feeling now or the pain that your loved one suffered prior to death.

As with any type of damages, you are going to need evidence to get the compensation that you deserve. While there aren’t bills to submit or invoices to point to, there are ways to prove loss of society and companionship and survivorship claims.

Our experienced Wisconsin wrongful death lawyers will fight hard for your fair recovery of all damages related to your loved one’s death. We will gather the relevant evidence and make strong arguments so that you can be compensated in court or through a settlement agreement. To learn more, we encourage you to contact us at any time to schedule a free, confidential, no-obligation consultation.

Before you put any energy into pursuing a legal recovery from a pharmaceutical company, you need to know whether you have standing to be a plaintiff in a pharmaceutical injury case.

What Is Standing?

Standing means that you have the legal right to bring a claim in an Iowa court.

Generally, you will have standing if:

You were physically injured by the medication or medical device.

You are the legal guardian of someone under the age of 18 or someone whose guardianship has been determined by the court and that person was physically injured by the medication or medical device. In this case, you would have standing to bring a lawsuit on that person’s behalf.

You are the administrator of an estate and the person who passed away died because of the mediation or medical device. In this case, you have standing to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the estate.

You do not have standing to sue simply because you could have been hurt or you were afraid of being hurt. Instead, you must prove that you have suffered specific and actual injuries.

What Happens If You Don’t Have Standing?

If you file a lawsuit and you don’t have legal standing, then the defendant has the right to file a motion to dismiss with the court. That motion would claim that you lack legal standing to bring a lawsuit. If the defendant’s legal team is correct in its interpretation of the law, then the judge will grant the motion and your case will be over. You will have gone through the effort of bringing a case and you will not recover any financial damages for your efforts.

Thus, it is important to determine whether you have standing before you take action. To learn more about how pharmaceutical class action cases work in Iowa, please browse our website or contact us at any time to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation.